Late for Work
by justakiss5
Summary: Emerie is running behind one morning and is forced to call in sick. But who is the mysterious golden eyed stranger and is he really who he says he is? A one shot where a girl meets a favorite character in NY.


**Author's Note: This is the very first story that I've ever published and I'd just like to say a quick thank you for reading and it would mean the world to be if you'd leave a review!**

Late for Work

I was going to be late for work the third time this week and my boss was going to kill me. That was all I could think about as I stepped out of my apartment and onto the busy streets of New York. It had rained the night before and I was attempting to both dodge water covered potholes and angry pedestrians in three inch heels when it happened. Not even two hundred feet from my apartment.

I was so focused on the road that I wasn't paying attention to the street. A cab driver (much to close to the side of the road in my opinion) hit a puddle sending the water, mud and who knows what else all over my face and dress.

I let out a quick scream and was offered no help from the effort. In fact, nobody around me seemed the least bit concerned where I was involved. New Yorkers. Stifling cuss words, I tried to do damage control on my ruined dress. A few minutes later I called it in. I would not be going into work today due to "food poisoning". Of course dear, get better dear. My boss was such a kiss ass on the phone. Probably counting the amount of days that I had been absent recently and dancing at the thought of being allowed to fire me.

It wasn't my fault that I had been out so much, really it wasn't. Work just didn't appeal to me anymore. Nothing really did. At twenty three years old I would like to think that I was having a mid-mid life crisis. I glanced up to see a couple of girls shooting me envious glares from across the street. Why they wanted to be covered in New York water was beyond me but I happily wished it upon them.

"Are you okay?" A male voice asked me. I looked up into a pair of warm golden eyes surrounded by thick black eyelashes. His face was completely gorgeous from the tip of his light blonde hair to the bottom of his strong, chiseled jaw. Well, I could take a guess as to what those girls were staring at now. The man was currently looking at me like I was crazy. Right, he asked me a question.

"Um, yah I should be now."

"Now?" He asked seemingly surprised at himself for asking. I stood there gaping at him for a minute. He looked so much like someone I recognized from a dream or something. It wasn't until I glanced at his arms covered in black tattoos that I made the connection. I gasped, stepping back into a pothole and stumbling for a moment before he caught my arm.

"Whoa, watch yourself." He said with a laugh, letting go of my arm after making sure that I was steady.

"I'm sorry." I said shaking my head. There's no way that he could be him. Jace was a book character. "You just look so much like somebody that I…I used to know." I figured there was a slim to no chance that he had ever even heard of my old favorite books let alone know the characters.

"Oh. May I ask who?"

"His name was Jace. Jace Wayland or Lightwood or maybe it was Herondale." What the heck, this guy won't know anything about the series anyway. "Sorry I'm bad with last names." I said with a wry smile. The man look stunned as he raked his hand through his hair. He leaned in closer to me.

"Can we go get a coffee?" he asked me. Suddenly I was extremely aware of the fact that we were still standing in the streets of New York, me drenching wet.

"Um, I'm sorry can I take a raincheck?" His stunned expression was momentarily replaced by one of surprise as if he wasn't used to be rejected. Honestly with a face like that I doubt he was. I gestured down to my sludge and water covered outfit and recognition lit his features.

"Okay, then your apartment." A million stranger danger signals went up in my head. I was still debating the pros and cons (pros being that he was extremely attractive and seemingly interested, cons being the obvious) when he waved his hand in front of my face.

"Hello?" I blinked a focused back in on him. "You need to stop spacing out on me." He said, his eyes filled with amusement.

"Sorry." I sighed and ignoring my logical side which screaming that I was insane, gestured for him to follow me into my building. Once into my tiny apartment I turned to him, half expecting him to be holding a knife or something. He wasn't though. He was just standing there looking around.

"You should probably shower." He said kindly. I gave him a wary look and he just laughed. "I'll just look around for a bit."

"I should be afraid that this is some elaborate robbery plan but honestly there's nothing in here to steal."

He looked at my curiously. "How could this even be a plan?"

"Oh you know," I start, "you and the guy driving the cab are in cahoots and had been following me, waiting for me to let me into my apartment so you could steal, rape, kill, the usual." He cocked an eyebrow.

"You have a strange definition of usual." I shrugged and walked over to my room.

"Just don't prove me right." I showered quickly and slipped into a pair of sweats and an old T shirt.

"Nothing's missing." I praised him as I walked into the little living room off of the kitchen. I joined him on the couch, tucking my legs under me.

"I never caught your name."He said once I was settled. Again the safety issues flickered through my mind. He was in my apartment and didn't even know my name.

"It's Emerie." I said with a smile, sticking out my hand. "But you can call me Em." He didn't take my hand though and instead stared into my eyes. I awkwardly lowered my hand.

"I'm Jace." He said, gauging my reaction. A million different thoughts flashed through my mind but I focused on the most logical one. I laughed but it had a nervous shake to it as I tried to remain calm.

"Wow, what a coincidence." My voice sounded too shrill in my ears. I was definitely freaking out.

"Emerie," My full name sounded amazing in his deep voice and I shuddered a bit. "My name is Jace Wayland/ Lightwood/ Herondale."

"That's impossible."

"No, Emerie it's not." He said carefully while pulling something out of his pocket. My head was in my hands though so I didn't get a good look at what it was. "I need you to tell me what you know." His voice was more controlled now, cold and calculating.

"What are you talking about Jace?" I said raising my head to look at him. I recognized the object in his hand then and all of my worst fears were confirmed. Jace was holding a knife from my kitchen. All the warmth that had filled his eyes before was gone as he raised the knife to my throat.

"Don't move." He said while taking something out of his pocket and whispering to it. Suddenly there was a glowing blade in his hand. I remembered its description from the books and, although I couldn't remember the exact name but I didn't think that it could hurt "mundanes" as Jace was found of calling people like me.

"What are you!" He shouted, his voice echoing around the room. I started to shake in fear, sinking into the couch to try to ease the pain of the knife against my neck. "I…I don't know what you mean." I lied. "What are you!" He repeated.

"Human." I whispered quickly as he started to increase the pressure of the knife. "I'm human." He nodded and whispered something to close the glowing blade and put it away. He lowered the knife from my neck but didn't put it away, holding it at a length close enough to be threatening.

"How did you find me!" Jace's golden eyes were glowing and I remembered how Clary once thought that Jace was truly alive in battle. I began to understand what she meant and he wasn't even in a dangerous situation.

"I didn't know you existed until today." I said evenly, my fear leaving me as I remembered the books and how much I really knew about him. I held the knowledge cards here.

"Liar." He snarled, moving the blade closer to my throat.

"Stop!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. "I thought you were fictional; a character from novels I used to read as a teenager." I said quickly and he lowered the knife again.

"Novels?" He asked confused.

"Yah, it was a young adult series. Very popular."

"Why haven't I heard of these?" He demanded to know.

"I don't know. I mean they're kind of girly I guess. But there is fighting in it"

"What are they about?"

"You, Isabelle, Alec, Clary fighting Valentine." His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Who's Clary?"

"Wow." I said in surprise. "She's fake? She was your redheaded love." I said with a smile. I was starting to feel more at ease despite the knife still in the air between us.

"I don't love anybody."

"You love your family." I pointed out.

"You know what I mean. And I never fought Valentine. He died in a fire with his family around the time that I was born."

I nodded, recognizing the story. "In the books he staged his death and raised you after killing your father."

He visibly shuddered. "What a simply awful thought." He glared at me. "And you believed this garbage?"

I shrugged. "It was a story, not reality to me. Plus I just loved…" I trailed off, realizing my mistake.

His eyes brightened and he finally put the knife down on my coffee table. "You just loved….who?" He asked with a smirk, already anticipated my answer.

"Nobody." I mumbled quickly, a blush heating my cheeks.

"Don't lie, who is it?" He was still smiling away. "Alec, Isabelle, maybe little Max?"

I sighed. "Jace. I loved Jace." "You could just say 'I loved you' you know. I'm Jace."

I shook my head, distracted from my embarrassment. "You're not though." His smile was gone now.

"I'm not lying to you Emerie. My name is Jace and I'm a Shadowhunter."

"I know, I know." I said running my hand through my hand in frustration. "But you're not… Jace." I held up my hand to stop him from protesting. "Sure you have his name and face but where's the witty and cocky comments?"

He sighed almost to himself and in that moment he looks hundreds of years older than my 23 years. "It changes you, Shadowhunting does. When I was young I was reckless, uncontrollable. I thought of myself as invincible. I was wrong of course but no matter how many times I hurt myself, I never understood. Then Max got seriously injured in battle a few years ago. Lost both his legs and fell into severe depression." He paused looking at me with guilt filled eyes. "I took him out that night. He wanted to break curfew, to fight demons and I let him. Now he'll never walk on his own two legs again. That night fighting demons stopped being fun." He finished and shut his eyes in pain.

I got up from the couch and sat down closer to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. Here was a man that not ten minutes ago was threatening me with death and yet I couldn't help but feel a connection to him. We sat like that for a few minutes until he raised his head.

"Thank you." He said softly and I pulled away from him, trying to ignore the ache in my body to hold him again. I stood up quickly.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"No thanks." He said, a little confused at my change in subject.

"But I really must be going."

"Alright." I said trying not to let him hear how disappointed I was. He walked over to the door, putting his hand on the knob before turning around.

"Emerie?"

"Yes Jace?" I asked struggling to not get my hopes up.

"Can I see you again?" My face broke into a huge grin at his words and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing in relief.

"Of course Jace." His smile mimicked mine at that and we just stood there grinning at each other like the happiest people in the world. We probably looked totally insane just standing there beaming at each other but I didn't care because this was Jace, _Jace_, and he wanted to see me again.

I broke away to walk into the kitchen and jot down my number. "Call me whenever." I told him after joining him at the door again and giving him my number.

"I will." He said tucking the paper in my pocket.

"Bye Jace."

"Bye Emerie." He returned and then cupped my face in his hands and lowered his lips to mine. I sighed in delight as he pulled back with a smile.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I try not to kiss on the first date but I guess my teenager self slipped out a bit." The greenhouse scene in _City of Bones_ flashed through my mind but I shoved it away. I needed to learn about _this_ Jace.

"If it was my teenage self we'd be doing a lot more than just kissing." I slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment but Jace just laughed.

"Don't worry, we'll get there." He said with a wink as he left my apartment. I shut the door behind him and slumped against it. Looks as if my mid-mid- life crisis is finally over, I thought to myself.


End file.
